In recent years there has been an increase in use of emoticons to represent language or the feelings of the writer of text or the individual displaying information on visual media, such as a computer screen or the display of a smart phone or tablet device. This has been done through the use of emoticons for some time. One of the most famous visual emoticons is the “Smiley Face” emoticon: This visual emoticon has been defined as representing “happiness” across many different cultures and ethnic groups. This visual emoticon and some others are shown in FIG. 1 generally at 50.
There is currently a large textual emoticon dictionary that is based on a number of different keystrokes. Representative textual emoticons are shown in FIGS. 2A-2F, generally 75. The textual emoticons, however, are based generally on using a standard English typewriter keyboard. Accordingly, other keyboard characters if used from different language keyboards may not necessarily provide the same meaning in the same way as those shown in FIGS. 2A-2F. Further, the images in the current textual emoticon dictionary may have significant negative connotations to, or not viewed in the same way by, a particular ethnic or cultural group.
Regarding visual emoticons, certain visual representations for emoticons may be accurate for some ethnic and cultural groups but not for others. For example, a particular emoticon in one culture may not portray the same specific emotion for which it was originally created in another culture.
Noting the above, there is a lack of emoticon dictionaries to accurately reflect the language of the various ethnic and cultural groups in any one country around the world. If there were such emoticon dictionaries, there is also a need to update these dictionaries in an efficient and timely manner. This is necessary because of the generational changing nature of language.
Further, subgroups within larger cultural and ethnic groups may have separate emoticons that present the context and connotations most recognizable by them. So, as emoticon dictionaries are being developed and updated, subsets of the dictionaries also would be needed to be developed for particular subgroups so that effective communications through emoticons can be effected.
There is a need for a system and method for developing ethnic and cultural emoticons and that system and method must also be able to update the ethnic and cultural emoticon dictionaries in an efficient and timely manner so as to reflect the changing nature of the language used by the members of ethnic and cultural groups.